You're watching the meeting of the Dallas City Council with Mayor Eric L.

Johnson, Mayor Pro Tem Jaime Recendez, Deputy Mayor Pro Tim, Maxie Johnson, the Council Members Chad West, Zaren D.

Gracie, Jesse Marino, Gay Denell Willis, Laura Kadena, Adam Basildua, Laurie Blair, Paula Blackman, Kathy Stewart, William Roth, Cara Mendelson, Paul E.

Ridley, City Manager Kimberly Biser Tolbert, City Secretary Billy Ray Johnson, and Interim City Attorney Bert Vandenberg.

All right.

We have a quorum.

Good morning.

Today is Tuesday, August 11th, 2026.

The times 9 30 a.m.

And I now call this meeting of the Dallas City Council to order.

Our invocations is going to be given by our colleague Chairman Zaren Gracie, who represents District Three.

I'll turn over to Chairman Gracie now for our invocation, and then we'll have our pledges of allegiance.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Good morning, everyone.

Let us pray.

Gracious and eternal God, we come before you this day as stewards of this city, of its people, and the trust placed in our hands.

Lord, we ask your blessings on the council on the work before us on every decision that will be made in this chamber today.

Your word tells us in Galatians 6 9 let us not become weary in doing good.

For at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Lord, we ask that you would that you would apply that promise first to the budget of this city.

The work of building a budget is slow, often thankless work, line by line, department by department, priority by priority.

It is easy to grow weary in that labor.

We ask for your wisdom for every hand that touches these numbers, that what is planted in this budget in our streets, our public safety, our neighborhoods, our children would yield a harvest of a stronger, safer, more prosperous Dallas.

Lord, we lift up the staff of this city, the men and women who show up early and stay late, who serve residents they will never be thanked by, who carry the daily weight of making government work.

Lord, renew their strength when they are weary.

Remind them that their good work, even when unseen, is not in vain.

And Lord, we lift up the personal budgets of our residents, the families stretching every dollar, the seniors on fixed incomes, the small business owners taking risks to build something of their own.

In a season where the cost of living presses hard on so many, we ask for your provision and your peace.

Give them strength not to give up and give this city the wisdom to be a good neighbor to them in return.

Father, whether it is the budget of a city or the budget of a household, let none of us grow weary in doing good.

Let us trust that the harvest comes in your time, not always our own.

We ask this in your holy name.

Amen.

Honor the Texas flag.

I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.

Thank you very much.

You may be seated.

And seeing that there are no uh announcements or special presentations or open microphone speakers, I believe this morning, Madam Secretary, is that correct?

That's correct, Mr.

Mayor.

Then I will turn it over to our city manager.

So um thank you very much, members.

Good morning, Mayor and City Council.

Today's briefing is on item number A.

The City Manager's recommended biennial budget for 2627 and fiscal year 2728.

For many years during the budget development process, we could rely on relatively stable patterns, predictable revenue growth, steady service demands, and a workforce model that did not change much from year to year.

That era is over.

Dallas has entered a period where change is the new normal, and we cannot run away from it.

Today's costs are rising faster than revenue, and the pressures on our organization are greater than ever.

Property taxes and sales taxes are two largest revenue sources, are not increasing at the same pace.

After months of hard work and thoughtful conversations with this city council, with our staff, and with the community, I am proud to present our proposed $5.66 billion balance budget, which includes a minimal property tax rate decrease.

This budget is focused on core services that our residents rely on every day, keeping our neighborhoods safe, maintaining streets and infrastructure, supporting parks, libraries, and responding quickly when our residents need us the most.

Over the last few weeks, our departments have taken a very hard look at how they do business, streamlining processes, improving efficiency, leveraging technology, building new public-private partnerships, and maximizing revenues while protecting the highest level of service Dallas residents expect and deserve.

This budget does reflect critical and difficult decisions that will have an impact on our workforce, including reduction of positions and changes to our insurance plans to avoid further deeper impacts and substantial cost increases.

This proposed budget is more about than just balance in numbers.

It is a plan delivering services for our community.

It's future focus, and it's about making responsible, intentional decisions today, so that we can continue to safeguard the long-term health and sustainability of our city.

Our work does not stop beyond the budget adoption process.

At this time, I'd like to turn it over to our Chief Financial Officer, Jack Ireland, our Director of Budget and Management Services, Jeanette Wheedon, and our interim assistant director of budget and management services, Suzanne Zeman, to present my proposed recommended budget to the City Council.